


The cookies are sweet and so are you

by madlysanecatlady



Series: Gladnis Valentine's Day [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Cookies, Fluff, Gladnis, M/M, Valentine's Day, i live and die by the fluff, sugary sweetness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13616445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madlysanecatlady/pseuds/madlysanecatlady
Summary: Ignis bakes Gladio some cookies with a very important question.





	The cookies are sweet and so are you

**Author's Note:**

> **The[Prompt](http://madlysanecatlady.tumblr.com/post/170439296574/gladnis-valentines-day-prompts) is:**  
>  _Ignis bakes Gladio some heart-shaped cookies but can’t muster up the courage to give them to him. Gladio drops by to deliver some forgotten paperwork and sees them._

Ignis truly loved baking, at least when it was for other people. He himself didn’t possess much of a sweet tooth, but he knew Gladio did. Thus, his current project. The little sugar cookie hearts had cooled, so now Ignis was carefully icing them with white chocolate, knowing that was one of Gladio’s favourite flavor combinations.

Even so, he wondered if the shape had been the correct choice. Hearts seemed a little… direct, even considering the holiday. He had been trying to convince himself to tell Gladio how he felt for a while now, trying to believe that Gladio would feel the same way. Things had gotten oddly _flirtatious_ , lately, as they either worked late into the night on Noctis’ schedule or training together when they had the chance. Gladio had taken to touching Ignis a lot more lately, be it a hand on his shoulder when he caught up to him in the hallway, or a hand on his back as they walked together, Ignis had noticed a distinct uptick in casual contact. Although, as he thought about it, Gladio was simply a tactile person. Touch for him probably meant something much different than it did for a more reserved person like Ignis. Gladio was probably jus showing comfort in their friendship.

For what felt like the millionth time since he stepped into the kitchen, Ignis second-guessed himself. He started washing out his piping bag while the chocolate set and sighed. Gladio had been so very right when he told Ignis he overthought everything he did. It was a wonder he hadn’t managed to drive himself completely mad yet.  

He picked up a second piping bag and filled it with red frosting, deciding enough was enough with all his second-guessing. He wrote out a neat and to-the-point message across the cookies and stepped back to admire his handiwork. Well, there was certainly no going back now. At least had he left that message off, he could have passed them off as a simple gift for a friend, the shape in keeping with the time of year. Now there was no mistaking his intentions. He wondered if that were a good thing.

And he started again with the second-guessing and the overthinking. Gladio would laugh if he could see the indecisive mess Ignis was being right now. He would tell him to stop thinking and just do something already. He figured he should probably buck up and take that advice for once.

Letting the icing set, he cleaned out the second piping bag and put away the cooking sheets that had since dried. He fetched the long, thin tin he had gotten for the occasion and lined it with heart-patterned parchment paper. It felt overkill, but it had honestly been the only kind he could find in the store this time of year. It was as though some Astral above were having a laugh at his expense. Or, perhaps a nudge in the right direction.

Shrugging he put the cookies in the tin and made his way into his office to take care of the work he needed to get through before he could get some sleep. He hoped he could get it done quickly enough, a good night’s sleep certainly wouldn’t hurt him as he walked into the unknown.

-

Ignis had forgotten the cookie tin at home, he realised when he returned home to find the tin staring at him accusingly. Ignis sighed. Alright, so maybe it wasn’t an entirely accidental instance of forgetting. Perhaps he had once again second-guessed himself and left it behind when he left for work that morning. He hung up his coat, doing his best to ignore the nagging feeling in his gut that told him he had missed out on a chance to tell Gladio how he felt, instead attempting to comfort himself in the knowledge that he hadn’t risked ruining their friendship.

He went into his office to get to work, hoping some reports would help keep his mind busy. He opened his briefcase and swore under his breath, noticing that he left the paperwork he needed to fill out for Noctis’ next year in school at his office. He was about to stand back up for his coat when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out to find an incoming text from Gladio.

_Your assistant said you forgot some paperwork. I’m coming to bring it to you, ok?_

Ignis smiled. A visit from Gladio was always welcome, especially now he had gotten that ridiculous romantic notion out of his head and would be willing to face him without dissolving into a puddle of nerves. He thumbed out a reply, thanking him for going to the trouble of helping him out and telling him to simply let himself in.

He settled in to get started on his reports for the day, summarising several strategy meetings into easy-to-digest one to two page write-ups, doubling up on them, writing a slightly more in-depth version for the king and a more basic version for the prince, knowing Noctis would never sit through two _entire_ pages of strategic writing. Ignis rolled his eyes while he was afforded the privacy to do so. It was his duty to ensure Noctis grew into a young man ready to inherit the throne, but most days he felt he was fighting a losing battle there.

After a few reports were finished, he heard the door opening and stood up, stretching out his back. He walked out of his office, looking around for Gladio.

He found him in the kitchen, with his back to him, looking down at something on the counter. Ignis blanched; that was where he had left the addressed cookie tin. Praying Gladio hadn’t opened it yet, he decided to announce his presence. ‘Evening, Gladio. Thank you for bringing me the forms.’

Gladio spun around, the tin’s lid in his hands and a dumbfounded expression on his face. Ignis felt himself flush, knowing Gladio had seen the cookies. He opened his mouth to try and explain, but went silent when Gladio looked about to speak.

‘I knew you’d appreciate me bringing you the paperwork, but that’s a bit much, isn’t it?’ Ignis couldn’t read the tone of Gladio’s voice; it was far too quiet and even.

‘I, er, well Gladio, I just wanted to…’ Ignis floundered for words, wondering just how he could fix this. Clearly he had been right in leaving the cookies at home. He should have tossed them the moment he got home and forgotten about the whole thing. Now he was liable to lose one of the best friends he had ever had because he had been so stupid as to think they could ever be anything more. He was beginning to feel light-headed and nauseous as his whole world threatened to crash down around him.

‘Iggy, don’t have a stroke, holy shit,’ Gladio put the tin lid aside to go over to Ignis, pushing his hair back to look at the alarming shade of red he was turning. He tugged him into a hug, tucking Ignis’ head under his chin, frowning at how limp Ignis was in his arms. ‘I was _teasing._ Come on, you _had_ to know I’d say yes to go to all that trouble, right? Or did you do the Ignis thing and overthink it so much you gave up on the whole thing? That’s why I found a random tin addressed to me on the counter.’

Ignis pulled away to look up at him, wondering if he had heard correctly. He had been to the point on the cookie message, simply writing _Will you be my valentine?_ across most of the two dozen cookies, hoping the answer would be ‘yes’, and if he had heard correctly, that was the answer he’d received.

‘You still with me, Iggy?’ Gladio looked concerned. ‘You look _really_ out of it.’

‘Sorry,’ Ignis shook his head to clear it, feeling the panicked fog dissipating as Gladio looked at him with a soft expression he had never seen before. ‘I just, yes, I did overthink it, clearly.’

‘Oh Iggy,’ Gladio shook his head. He rooted around in his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out an envelope. He handed it over. ‘I have a valentine for you, too. I would’ve given it to you today, but _someone_ was avoiding me.’

Ignis flushed again, accepting the envelope. ‘Sorry,’ he apologised again. He opened the envelope to pull out a gift card for the local coffee shop. It was covered in cutesy little hearts and said _You’re sweeter than sugar_. Ignis looked up. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘I mean, you already said it with those delicious looking cookies, but you _could_ say you’ll be my valentine,’ Gladio smiled. ‘And you know, maybe agree to take a few hours away from work and go on a date with me?’

Ignis reached up to grab the collar of Gladio’s jacket, pulling him down to he could press a tentative kiss to his lips. Gladio reacted far from tentatively, pulling Ignis closer and deepening the kiss with enthusiasm.

Ignis pulled away, grinning like a fool. ‘It’s not that late; how about we put this card to good use and have that date right now? I’m hoping it’s the first of many.’

‘It’s like you read my mind,’ Gladio smiled. He turned around to replace the lid on the tin of cookies, but took one first, taking a bite and letting out a satisfied groan. ‘Astrals, Iggy, how are you this good at everything?’

‘They’re just cookies,’ Ignis blushed. ‘I thought they might appeal to your sweet tooth, which I know you have.’

‘Course I do, I like you, don’t I?’

Ignis thought he might just develop a sweet tooth of his own if Gladio continued being so sweet. He certainly didn’t think it would be a bad thing. He took Gladio’s hand and led him towards the door, very much looking forward to an evening filled with coffee and sugary sweetness.


End file.
